As an educator with 20 years of experience I have had the pleasure of meeting many other local educators in Bristol County. Naturally, our discussions often include comparing school systems in our area. One theme that always comes up is the reputation of Westport’s public schools. In my experiences many people know how the town has voted against increased funding for its schools in the past. There is also some perception out there that it’s just an average to less than average school system. As a graduate of Westport High School myself, I often find myself defending my town’s public school system.
As is with social media these days, some are quick to believe whatever they hear. To those who are quick to follow the negativity I ask them to look at the facts that are public knowledge on the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website. Even The Herald News has publicized the public school statistics of Westport and its surrounding towns like Dartmouth, Somerset and Swansea. When MCAS scores are released annually, Westport is consistently higher than the state average, it is right there in close comparison with these surrounding towns, and according to the 2017 accountability data, it is meeting its expected target. Westport also has a low dropout rate and a high graduation rate, small class sizes with a 15:1 student to teacher ratio, low suspension rates, and 99 percent of our teachers are licensed in their teaching assignment. Let’s not forget that Westport High School is a Level 1 school, while the middle and elementary schools have consistently been at a Level 2 (out of a scale of 1-5, with 5 being a Level 4 that fails to improve). These are the reasons my wife and I choose to send our children to Westport Public Schools.
Compared to other surrounding schools districts, Westport has continued to compete and perform well despite years of level funded or under-funded budgets. It has too often been asked to do more with less. This reminds me of my last few years of my Air Force Reserve career, where doing more with less was a nice way to say we’re not only cutting your budget but we’re removing some key programs that people depend on. Speaking from experience, this is not easy for the worker bees to absorb more responsibility with less funding, especially when you’re compared to your neighbors that always seem to have it easier than you. But somehow the educators of Westport have done it. I would like to publicly thank our Westport educators for this resiliency.
However, there remain nay-sayers who somehow think Westport is not deserving of a new school. To the nay-sayers I ask this: Why wouldn’t you want to build upon something that’s already proven to be very good? Do these in-town nay-sayers only care about whether or not their taxes will go up? Perhaps. Are they not content despite having the lowest property tax in the area and one of the lowest in the entire state? Perhaps. These naysayers are clearly not thinking about the big picture of investing in our children’s education, our town, and the benefits that a new school would bring. We will continue our proud distinction of having the lowest property tax rate in our area and in many cases half of what our neighbors pay. So the ultimate question is, would you rather pay half the cost now for a new school or be forced to pay double later? C’mon, this is a “no-brainer.” As the fact site www.westport-sos.com says, this is not the “Big Dig.”
Thankfully, there are many new and young families in town that could turn this vote into a unanimous win for our schools if they would all just show up at the polls to vote "Yes," and I have to admit that is a huge if. But make no mistake about it, we have a real chance to even the playing field once and for all. To not support our schools now would be a selfish act that could become a devastating blow to our school system and our town’s financial future.
So to all the new families in town I choose the Patriots' pep rally that has so often led them to success: Let’s go! Do your job! Get out and vote "Yes" on Feb. 27! Not only will we be proud to live in such a beautiful beach town that continues to be at the bottom of the tax bracket, but with a new 21st century school we will be able to provide a modern education, continue to perform well and exceed expectations.
Anthony D. Branco
Westport